How I came to dressage
Though I have a varied riding background,
dressage has been my singular
interest for the past three years. I began riding hunt seat as a child,
taking lessons and leasing horses until I finally got my own horse at age
14. My focus turned to combined training when I joined Brush Run Pony Club
(Pennsylvania). I am a graduate H-A, Life Member, and volunteer with the
United States Pony Club and its local clubs. I took a brief hiatus from
competitive riding during college, then picked it back up again during graduate
school when I met my current equine partner, Excalibur. He is a 19-year
old bay Thoroughbred, a grandson of Citation, and an ex-working hunter.
I've leased him from his owner for the past 3-1/2 years and together we
have worked very hard to transform ourselves into a respectable dressage
team at First Level. You can see pictures of Excalibur on my homepage.
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My trainer Frances Yeardley
 France Yeardley
is an FEI competitor,
L judge, trainer, and instructor from our area. One
day I was complaining to her that Excalibur and I had hit a wall with his
arthritis. I was eager to learn more but not ready to invest in a new horse.
She invited me to try her ex-Prix St. George horse, Santos, so I could feel
what a free, swinging gait was like. She warned me that he was a bit of
a mischievious clown and had frustrated more than a few people. Undeterred,
I packed up my stuff one day in the fall of 1997 and drove the 85 miles from Blacksburg
to Lexington to give it a try and despite Santos's best efforts to the contrary,
I keep coming back!
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Logistics
When people hear that I make the 90 minute drive each way to ride with
Frances three times a week, they think I'm crazy. One of the reasons it
has worked so well is because planning is greatly simplified by ready access
to email and the Internet. We exhange quick notes almost daily to schedule
lessons, coordinate horse show trips, sum up lessons learned, and discuss
questions. She supplements lessons with clips from online forums and sends
video stills of me to illustrate problems. During the drive to and from,
I learn or review dressage tests, mentally rehearse movements, and think
about what I've learned or questions I might have. The time is not wasted
at all.
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VADA Scholarship
I am a proud recipient of the VADA First Level Scholarship in 1998 and
VADA Third Level Scholarship in 1999. Selections
were made in part on our volunteer activites in support of our chapter and
the USDF. I have been a member of SWVADA/VADA (Southwest Virginia Dressage
Association) for the past four years, elected to the Board of Directors,
editor of the Salute, our monthly newsletter, creator
of the SWVADA
Web site, and all-around clinic, event, and show volunteer. In
return for this scholarhip, I have volunteered to document my adventures
on this Web page. I owe a big thank-you to Frances, who had the difficult
task of translating for Santos!
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